THE HOLY DEVIL

is the title of a scurrilous pamphlet against Rasputin, from the pen of his opponent, the

dreaded monk-priest Iliodor; the statements and accusations

contained in it have contributed not a little to create the false

picture in which Rasputin appears as a cunning charlatan,

and even as the man mainly responsible for the ruin of the old Russia.

This picture, distorted with the hatred of an unsuccessful

enemy, has hitherto served as a model for all portraits of

Rasputin, and as such has been offered to the public. The confusion

of the Revolution long rendered an impartial correction

of it impossible, for, in the making of revolutionary catchwords,

destined for the use of the day, veracity was of no account

whatever; efficacity in political warfare was all that mattered.

From this point of view, it would scarcely have been possible

to have found a more suitable historical portrait than this,

or one more eminently fitted to reveal the utter abomination of

the old regime and its representatives.

For revolutionary Russia in its attack on a system such as

tsarism, that undoubtedly had had its day, and that was, therefore,

corrupt in many respects, the distortion of persons and

situations may appear, if not justifiable, at least excusable.

But even without that motive lurking in the background, the

bourgeois love of scandal and sensation seized on the figure

of Rasputin, and did its part in drawing the untrue picture,

which is also flat and uninteresting because it is in simple

black and white, of a commonplace 'devil in human shape.'

RASPUTIN

One of the only 20th Century men to be immortalized by Disney Corporation

as a cartoon character.

Was he evil, or good?  An anti-Christ, or prophet?

Who is this Rasputin?  What was the genesis of his power?

 Discover one of the many sides of the man,

A man who was poisoned,

shot,

beaten, and drowned,

but refused to die...